Wrestling Podmass (September 16): The Week In Pro Wrestling Podcasts

Ric Flair and Bruce Prichard shows are delayed, so they’ll be included next week.

The podcast week in review, brought to you by Dollar Shave Club (no, seriously start your free month at dollarshaveclub.com/voices).

They Said It…

“I’m fine with the fact he was paid a lot more than me. To be honest, I was hoping he’d miss weight so I could get 20 percent of his purse.” – Mickey Gall on the pay discrepancy between him and CM Punk

“That was the only place I ever felt free.” – Hulk Hogan on being in the ring

The Usual Suspects

Eastern Lariat #28 (9/10/16): This episode dubs itself the Puroresu Potpourri, and it certainly lives up to that name. Topics include: recent All Japan, the upcoming Zero One juniors tournament, DDT, a crazy Tokyo Guretai, a big HEAT UP show, and more. Always nice to hear a show covering the less well known puro feds. THUMBS UP

The Card is Going To Change #13 (9/12/16): Johnny Gargano is back, this time to talk about his time in AIW before moving on to the WWE. You get a lot of stories about his breaking in to AIW, his various feuds, and whatnot, but the most interesting part is everyone discussing booking Bryan Danielson and how unsure they were of how to approach him. A nice victory lap that even gets a little (OK, very little) emotional at the end. THUMBS UP

Conversation with the Big Guy #3 (9/12/16): Ryback talks about changing his legal name to Ryback in the intro, then he and Pat talk about their restaurant days working at Smokey Bones. Not a lot of meat to this one unless you like hearing stories of them eating food. And again, Ryback tells a story where he comes off completely terrible, this time threatening a line cook who caught him drinking on the job. THUMBS DOWN

VIP Lounge (9/13/16): MVP and Alex talk about Don’t Breathe (and dish out spoilers, so be warned) before they’re joined by Broken Matt Hardy. This one plays a bit different as they play it for real, with MVP questioning what happened to Matt and Alex buying in this new persona (the overall effect is diluted when they discuss keeping kayfabe immediately afterwards). Some MMA talk wraps up a mixed bag of a show. [Broken Matt Hardy comes on at 13:41]THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Steve Austin Show #359 (9/13/16): Part 2 with Missy Hyatt, who turns the tables on Austin and asks him a bunch of questions. Really good ones in fact, like what Steve would have done if WCW didn’t pick him up and whether Steve thought the Dangerous Alliance broke up too soon. Missy makes a better interviewer than Steve, and it’s nice to get some freshness after 350+ episodes. THUMBS UP

MLW Radio #244 (9/13/16): No Court yet again, so at this point we can assume he was abducted by aliens. Instead Alex Greenfield and MSL discuss CM Punk’s loss at UFC and what it means for the wrestling world. There’s also a rundown of Backlash (and that logo’s similarity to the MLW one) and Raw, as well as Vince McMahon’s recent injury. You can tell MSL would jump all over the Punk loss and its effect on people’s perception of wrestling, and there’s some nice disagreement from Alex that makes for good discussion. THUMBS UP

The Ross Report #135 (9/13/16): Another in a string of double headers, as first JR is joined by the former Bull Dempsey, now Bull James. James talks about his time in developmental and moving on to the indies and doesn’t say a lot. Next up is Chavo Guerrero to gab about the third season of Lucha Underground. Not a lot is said and there aren’t any great scoops on the show, unless you’re dying to know Chavo’s role for season 3. [James’ interview starts at 17:47, Guerrero’s interview starts at 39:04]THUMBS DOWN

Talk is Jericho #282 (9/14/16): Jericho talks to rock legend Meat Loaf (although he would deny that designation) after Loaf got lost on his way to the studio. There’s a lot of talk about his new record and how it’s the best album he ever made (just once, it would be refreshing if an artist stated their new album was merely OK). He also talks about his classic Bat Out of Hell and playing drums in the WWF’s “Land of a Thousand Dances” video. The talk about his current album is weak, but any show featuring a story of Andre the Giant eating 9 chickens isn’t a total loss. [Meatloaf’s interview starts at 8:55]THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Bischoff on Wrestling #8 (9/14/16): Eric and Nick get something of a scoop as their first guest is Mickey Gall, fresh off his win over CM Punk. Gall is OK but doesn’t say anything you really wouldn’t expect. Up next is part 3 with Hulk Hogan. You probably heard about his claim that he was willing to lose to Flair at Mania VIII and chase him, which is likely untrue. But there’s a part at the end where he talks about how good it felt to be in the ring that Hulk really feels like a human being. [Gall’s interview starts at 4:44, Hogan’s interview starts at 18:20] THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Keepin’ it 100 #11 (9/15/16): This week features Juventud Guerrera singing a duet with his girlfriend and some guy named Jackie from the Breakfast Club in a baffling segment. The rest sees Melissa Santos talking Lucha Underground and Celebrity Apprentice, Shane Helms talking TNA, Konnan, Disco, & Kevin discussing the Punk UFC fight, and Konnan & Disco breaking down the NFL’s first week. The show certainly improves after that first segment. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Art of Wrestling #318 (9/15/16): Cedric Alexander makes his AoW debut. Be warned, this was before he signed with the WWE, so don’t expect anything about the Cruiserweight Classic. We do get to hear about Cedric’s upbringing, his mom almost becoming a wrestler, dropping out of college, working for Highspots, making his way in the business, and more. Just some quirky stories and Cedric comes across like a really great guy. THUMBS UP

The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed! #360 (9/5/16): Steve talks to Alan Bishop, who works on the Broken Skull Challenge as the “Supervising Producer of Challenges.” Alan talks about the show, leading expeditions, his early troubles with drugs and alcohol, joining the army, his training regimen, and more. Dull show and Steve doesn’t help by telling an endless story about losing his keys. THUMBS DOWN

Jim Cornette Experience #145 (9/15/16): No guest this week, and the show only really features two topics: The Last Battle of Atlanta (which Jim didn’t really like) and CM Punk’s foray into UFC (and how Jim would fix (or “gently massage”) the result. That’s about it, unless you count all the extra padding at the beginning of the episode. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Talk is Jericho #283 (9/16/16): Y2J sits down with James Ellsworth, the notable enhancement talent that got squashed by Braun Strowman a few months back on Raw. They discuss how he got the call to work the match, getting some promo time, everyone’s reaction afterwards and the modicum of fame he’s received. You also get to hear about his independent wrestling, working shows with Doink and the like. Good show with an interesting story of overnight fame after. [Ellsworth’s interview starts at 8:23]THUMBS UP

MSL & Sullivan Show (9/16/16): [The Nitro review starts at 26:37] MSL and Sullivan start off by breaking down Raw’s recent ratings woes , the moving of Jack Swagger to Smackdown, and Dean Ambrose turning heel. Then it’s a review of the 12/9/96 Nitro and Roddy Piper’s blurring of shoot and reality, and then a half hour of mailbag with topics like Missy Hyatt breaking Kevin’s eardrum and the term “mark” as a pejorative. Good stuff. THUMBS UP

Not enough podcasts for you? Here’s what the Voices of Wrestling team put out this week:

Shake Them Ropes #173 (9/12/16): Rob and Jeff run down a surprisingly fun Backlash show and discuss Rob’s hat-eating future.

Lucha of the Hidden Temple (9/14/16): Chris and Miles return to break down the season 3 premiere.

K&P #27 (9/14/16): K&P discuss their favorite basketball video games, the release of NBA 2k17, the current level of parity in the NFL, and Kyle Hendrick’s Cy Young chances.

Shake Them Ropes #174 (9/15/16): Rob opens with some thoughts on NXT and then we get the audio version of Rich and Jeff’s recap of the Cruiserweight Classic

Voices of Wrestling (9/16/16): In a shortened show (meaning it only goes a little over 2 hours) Joe and Rich break down the Cruiserweight Classic, recap Backlash, and break news on Katsuyori Shibata